Shoot First Georgia
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 3, 2006
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0203edguns.html
Think first, reject gun bill later
In the testosterone-soaked General Assembly, a bill encouraging gun owners to "stand your ground" draws as much attention as a gallon of cookie dough ice cream at a Weight Watchers session.
Certainly, that proved to be the case at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The "Stand Your Ground" legislation — better described as the "shoot first, ask questions later" bill — gives broad protections from civil and criminal actions to people who use their guns to respond to threats, real and perceived.
The bill would allow gun owners to shoot and kill if they feel threatened, even in cases where they have other means of protecting their safety, such as calling law enforcement or simply leaving a situation.
The bill has other problems as well. For example, as state Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) pointed out, it makes shooters immune from lawsuits not only from the people they intended to shoot, but also from unintended victims. So if a school group got caught in a wild and unnecessary gun battle between an armed citizen and a would-be carjacker, any innocent victims of the crossfire would be barred from suing the person who started the gunfight.
However, after noting that problem, the committee chaired by Smith went ahead and approved the bill unanimously. Apparently, he and his colleagues didn't dare delay approval, not in the presence of Marion Hammer, the grand dame of the derringer.
Hammer, who came to Atlanta from Florida to champion the bill, is a former National Rifle Association president. She testified to knowing zilch about what current Georgia law says about the right to self-defense. But somehow, she knew exactly what we need to do to fix it.
Hammer told the committee that the "Stand Your Ground" bill had nothing to do with guns, since it protected righteous citizens wielding lamps or baseball bats. But lobbyists for the lighting fixture industry or the Louisville Slugger manufacturer were nowhere to be seen — only Hammer testified in the bill's favor.
That's because this bill and the rationales for it represent an NRA fabrication. Georgia residents are not clamoring for more gunplay in their shopping malls and more half-crocked 25-year-olds settling silly arguments with firearms. Cemeteries across Georgia are full of young men who stood their ground when they should have retreated, and their heartsick families and fatherless babies are paying the price.
Since Florida enacted its "Stand Your Ground" law in the fall, it's been invoked once, a fact Hammer never mentioned to the Senate committee. That's probably because the case does not involve a homeowner safeguarding his family from intruders or a woman fending off a would-be rapist.
In its first application, the "Stand Your Ground" law is being cited as a defense for a tow truck operator who killed the irate owner of a car he had just towed. Everyone is apparently safer in Florida now that there's one fewer illegal parker roaming the streets.
